One Down

July 3, 2019

The group is still trying to decide what to do.  They take a moment to compose themselves.  Dorn then uses the sword in a new way.  By performing some katas and concentrating on the blood of the dragon still on it, he senses that dragon ten miles to the west.  Looking at the map, that does conform to the map they have with the hill and information they got.  They decide they can't wait and have to bring the fight to the dragon, before he gets healed.  Maldar pushes himself and is able to get them within a mile of the hill.  Michel does some scouting and sees the dragon being attended to and healed!  As Michel is about to leave the grove he is in, he sees a dragon skeleton and it starts to move!  A Dracolich!  Michel waits for it to move before he flies back to the group.  He announces in a way that is not calm about the dracolich.  

The group discusses a plan and Chandi also chimes in with some suggestions.  The big thing Chandi stresses is to hit fast and hit hard.  Don't let up and don't give them time to act.  Force them to react.  They do so.  

After getting into position, the spellcasters lead off with several big spells.  The dragons may not be affected by acid but Jinn knows fire!  The dracolich is targeted first and within a round, it's body is destroyed.  Once again, Dorn finds himself facing off against Gouge.  This time, there is something in the dragon's eye that Dorn sees.  Anger, malice, fear, and desperation all come into play.  The dragon is able to call upon the land around him to help, bringing forth all of the stinging insects the marsh has to offer.  They do harass and hinder the group.  Another sculpted fireball takes down more dragonborn.  Gouge lays into Dorn doing heavy damage.  When that drops Dorn, the dragon loses control of the insects, which disperse, as he has Dorn's sword pulled into the ground.  However, Dorn's secondary weapon, a hammer, seems more than up to the task.  It is Jinn's fire that takes out Gouge, reducing him and the final two dragonborn to ash.  

They are wondering what to do when they learn about the village of dragonborn and are attacked!  While not as powerful as the other dragonborn or Gouge, the numbers looked to be a problem at first.  However, Michel's casting of Web blocks some and somewhat channels them, to again be hit by group spells.  One fireball got countered and for his troubles, the one who countered it got to meet the mud, face down.  Mirror Image again helps Jinn avoid much damage, allowing for the group to get to him and help.  Michel tries to eat one of the dragonborn after turning into a giant toad but missed.  They manage to take one prisoner but if he speaks, or even understands, common, he doesn't let on and doesn't tell them anything.  

They scout the hill and see the village is kids and maybe non combatants?  They are reluctant to go slaughter them but by the time they get up there, the kids have left.  After some searching, they find Gouge's secret area and the apparatus as before, creating an acid cloud someplace.  And the gems used are much bigger.  Maldar gets those and they find the dragon's treasure in a vault, some rings.  

When they see giants and trolls approaching with the kids, they decide to leave.  Michel stays back to watch what the giants do.  He only stares as, once the giants and trolls realize the dragon is dead, they turn on the dragonborn kids.  The kids are torn apart and eaten, quite brutally.  Michel decides not to tell the others this.  

They travel through the swamp and it's a rough go.  Maldar got poisoned in his attempt to open the safe, and doesn't feel good.  When they get to the Steel Eagles county, they have a neutralize poison that they give to Maldar.  He hopes to feel normal by the morning.

Maldar is much better in the morning and manages to shadow walk them right into an alley just a block away from his house.  They get back and put stuff away and then start discussing what to do!  They talk about how to divide up treasure.  They decide to stay a few days shopping and studying!

15000 xp

GM Notes

• John impressed and surprised me by using the blood on the sword to help find Gouge.  If it hadn't been for that, he would have felt more but lesser presences in the area.
• A misprint on the card of the Druid Web spell had it not as concentration? 
• I can't find errata or anything about it, other than it is concentration.  I left it for the fight but then it will be concentration going forward. 
• The attunement system to limit magical items is interesting. 
• They probably have too much magic, which is why it's an issue, but it does make it interesting on what they pick.
• It also sparks creativity as I decided that attunement is only needed for an item's special abilities.  If they want to use it just for it's base magic without any special abilities, they can.  Only if they attune do they get more. 
• I'm still undecided with 5E as a whole.   
• I can't decide if I like it or not, compared to PF. 
• There are a lot of little things that can be annoying or catch me off guard, like conditions.  
• At times, advantage/disadvantage is nice and simple, and other times I want a bonus instead. 
• The flat numbers do mean less big math but there is still a lot of little math, like Xd6 damage for a spell or sneak attack. 
• I personally haven't found combat faster.  There are less things to track, on both sides, but the things to track are more meaningful and everyone has something. 

BACK